Easter Sunday || Let's Be Honest...We Need Resurrection to Be Real

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol || PastorScripture: Matthew 28:1-10The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith and the source of countless promises that have the power to fill us with bright hope no matter what we are experiencing in life. Easter is not only a celebration of new life, it is a remembrance of the most transformational change of events that has ever taken place. But let’s be honest, we need the resurrection to be real. Not just as a story we tell or a tradition we keep, but as a truth we can stake our lives on. In Matthew's Gospel, the women arrive at the tomb carrying grief, fear, and uncertainty only to be met by an empty grave and a message that sounds almost too good to be true, he is not here, for he has been raised. They do not respond with instant certainty. They run with fear and great joy tangled together, and maybe that is where many of us are too, caught between doubt and hope, longing to believe that death does not get the final word. This Easter, we will face the question head on, what if the resurrection is real, what if God truly has the power to bring life out of death, hope out of despair, and purpose out of our deepest pain, because if it is real then everything changes, not just for Jesus, but for us too.